


Let me get to the good parts

by the_milky_way



Series: Eddie Diaz Week 2021 [6]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Accidental Coming Out, Christopher Diaz is a National Treasure, Coming Out, Eddie Diaz Week 2021, Eddie Diaz' Parents are understanding, Established Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz, Established Relationship, Fluff, Kissing, Light Angst, M/M, Soft Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Soft Evan "Buck" Buckley, Soft Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz, Supportive Evan "Buck" Buckley, Worried Eddie Diaz
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 19:07:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29905701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_milky_way/pseuds/the_milky_way
Summary: Of course, Eddie finds the most embarrassing way to come out to his parents and introduce his boyfriend to them. It's not like he has worried about this for months now, trying to find the right words and getting lost in the worst case scenarios his mind comes up with. Good thing Christopher is there to help.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz, Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Series: Eddie Diaz Week 2021 [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2189010
Comments: 17
Kudos: 274
Collections: 9-1-1 Tales





	Let me get to the good parts

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SMeerschwein](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SMeerschwein/gifts).



> Day 7 of [Eddie Diaz Week 2021](https://eddiediazweek.tumblr.com/)
> 
> “Are you happy?” + family
> 
> Title is taken from "Goin Down" by The Pretty Reckless
> 
> This is for [SMeerschwein](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SMeerschwein) again, because she prompted me ages ago with Eddie worrying about his parents. And because I didn't manage to use her "Buck's photos prompt" in these stories.

Eddie Diaz has no idea how to tell his parents that he’s in love with a man. That he is in a committed relationship with one even. And has been for a few months. Has been trying to tell them that just as long.

They have been pestering him about dating and settling down again. Insistent that Christopher might need more than a single father working shifts. It’s like they are desperate for Eddie to be a normal son again and have a wife. Like, what will the neighbors say, right?

Honestly? Eddie doesn’t give a shit about his parent’s neighbors. But he wants them to stop getting on his case and therefore needs to tell them the truth. If only he knew how to. It’s a little frustrating to say the least. Case in the point the call he just ended. His mother hadn't even let him get a word in between stories about a colleague's daughter and Sophia's newest COVID-safe dating adventure.

Eddie flings the phone onto the table and flops back into the couch. His parents only seem to know one topic these days. Well, two, as Christopher is always part of every conversation between them. But other than that, Eddie’s dating life or the perceived lack of one is either brought up directly by his mom or more subtly by his dad. Eddie doesn’t even know why he tries anymore. He knows what he needs to say to them.

But every time he sets out to do it, to get over with it, he can’t. The words get stuck and he feels his heart switch to an unhealthy rhythm. He just can’t find the right way to make them understand. To… still have them love him. Afterwards.

He has complained about it to his sisters en masse. Only to be laughed to his face and told to stop being a coward. At least he knows that Sophia and Adriana will support him, no matter what. But what’s even worse is the fact that he drags another person into it. It's simply just unfair to the one other person who is directly involved in all this. He doesn’t want him to feel like a dirty little secret because he isn’t one. All the important people, including Christopher, know. Safe for Eddie’s parents that is. 

And the latest attempt at telling them was just derailed by one of their neighbors showing up unexpectedly and thus ending the call before Eddie even got the chance to bring it up.

Eddie sighs. Loud and long. And almost desperate.

“Your parents?”

“Yeah.”

“Seeing your face there tells me it didn’t go as planned.”

“As usual. I’m beginning to think abuela might be on to something with her ramblings about fate’s way. Why the fuck is this so hard? Why can’t I just sit down, call them and tell them?”

The couch dips next to him and if he’s honest he has been waiting for it. He needs this contact right now. Wants it desperately and almost falls into the body next to him when an arm is slung around his shoulders. Eddie is frustrated to all hell and simply doesn't know what to do anymore. 

“You’ll get there.”

“But when? I’ve been trying for months now. Everyone here knows. My sisters do. It wasn’t hard to tell them. What’s wrong with me?”

After years of fighting through taught, ingrained beliefs as well as denial, and after finally recognizing this is part of himself, being stuck in this situation feels like a step backwards. 

“Nothing is wrong with you. They are your parents. And they… well, they think in a certain way. And telling them is hard. Eddie, you don’t have to do it. Not now anyway. We can wait.”

He knows this. They have talked about it for hours on end. They talked circles around each other trying to come up with a good way to broach the subject. Eddie has been ready but has yet to have a call with his parents where he doesn’t fail to tell them. He sighs again, snuggles into the warmth at his side and smiles when the arm around him pulls him closer. Soft lips press against his hairline and he soaks it up, feels himself calm down.

It’s easy then, to tilt his head back a little. It’s even easier to find waiting lips. He kisses the soft smile greeting him and wonders what he did to deserve this. They have come a long way and it has been an uphill battle until they ended up where they are now. But it was worth it. Eddie knows this much.

He gets lost in the feeling of plush lips on his, of fingers gently scratching through the soft hairs at the back of his neck. Goosebumps pepper his skin and a soft moan slips free despite his best efforts to suppress it. He feels giddy, like a teenager sneaking around to make out when the parents are out of the house. He hasn’t felt like this, this good in years and he loves it.

“Edmundo?”

He’s not proud to admit it but he squeaks a little and flails a lot at the voice of his mother. When he thought about feeling like a teenager just a minute ago, being actually caught by his parents was definitely not part of it. Heart pounding madly Eddie manages to pull himself back up from where he almost flailed off the couch. He dares a look to the side and knows he shouldn’t have. Wide-eyed and beet-red shouldn’t be an attractive look. It is on his boyfriend.

Eddie feels the heat on his own face, prays fleetingly that it isn’t too prominent and takes a deep breath before looking towards the space from where his mother’s voice apparently came from. Christopher is standing at the edge of the coffee table, almost right in front of the couch. The mischievous grin tells Eddie that his son doesn’t feel all too guilty and finds this situation rather entertaining. Good for him.

Chris has his tablet strapped to his chest, screen facing the room. A contraption made out of easy-to-use suspenders Buck came up with. Letting his eyes finally settle on the screen Eddie remembers that his parents told him they’d Facetime Chris after their call. He totally forgot. 

His mom’s face is hard to read. What Eddie doesn’t expect to see, is his father next to her trying to hide the fact that he is laughing behind his hand. Yeah, not the way Eddie wanted to come out to his parents. And really not the way Eddie wanted to introduce his boyfriend to them-

“Grandma wants to talk to you, dad.” Chris pipes up, sounding all innocent and chipper.

“I figured,” Eddie gets out, fighting the urge to run and hide. He takes the tablet and lets Chris plop down on the table without saying anything about it. There’s a snort sounding from his right that is quickly covered by cough - judging by his mother’s raised eyebrow not very well though.

“Hello, Buck,” Eddie’s mom intones, voice neutral but a small smile present. Polite to the core. Eddie can’t look behind it, doesn’t know what she’s really thinking.

“Hi, Mrs. Diaz. Good to see you again. Mr. Diaz.”

“Buck,” Eddie’s dad replies, face somewhat screwed up as if he’s still trying to suppress laughter. 

Eddie is a little confused there. Scratch that and make it a lot. All this time thinking about coming put to them he imagined worst case scenarios, has prepared himself to be disowned, to lose part of his family. He’s imagined words like “you aren’t our son any longer” or “you are a disappointment”, but so far none of it has happened. And it throws him. More than he likes to admit. Not being able to read his parents, to gauge their reactions, isn't a good feeling. 

Buck shifts on the couch when Chris climbs onto his lap and then further onto the couch, apparently tired of not seeing what’s happening on the screen.  
It brings them all closer together as well. Eddie watches his mom looking at them with interest, taking it in. Them pressed together like this, it's a picture she, they, haven't seen before. 

“Want to tell us something, Eddie?” His mother sounds okay there though. Not angry or sad. Curious and nothing more. At least not at this moment.

“Uh… I… I’ve been trying to. For ages. And I just… I couldn’t find the right words. Mom. Dad. Buck and I… we are…”

“They are married,” Chris blurts out, bouncing happily on the couch between Eddie and Buck effortlessly slotting into the little space there.

“What? No… Chris.” Buck is the first to react, eyes wide again, choking a little on his breath. He looks a little wild like that. Unfairly attrative, too. Probably not the way he thought he’d be introduced to Eddie’s parents. Not that he wasn't already. But as the boyfriend, you know? 

“Not yet. Buck and I are together, though,” Eddie finally manages to say when Chris' giggles and Buck’s choking have died down.

“Not yet?” Buck whispers. Eddie loves the way Buck looks right now. All happy surprise, blue eyes shining and grinning widely. It’s a talk for just the two of them, though.

“Later,” Eddie smiles and then turns back towards his parents on the screen. Heart thudding and hands sweaty he waits for the inevitable.

Which for some reason sounds a lot different from what he’s been imagining, expecting even. He grew up a certain way and with an assortment of family traditions that don’t allow much for progress. So having his mother sigh and start smiling all satisfied and his father looking on with something close to understanding is, to be frank, fucking weird. Not bad, but weird.

“I suspected there was something. Someone. Even back when you were here. Why didn’t you say something then?”

That is actually a good question and Eddie doesn’t really know how to answer it. Luckily doesn’t have to because his boyfriend is there to help.

“Nobody knew back then. It was all new,” Buck says, all sheepish and with this innocent smile that almost always gets to people. It seems to work on his parent’s, too, as they both nod understandingly.

Eddie is considering asking if his parents are alright or if they’ve been replaced by pod-people. Because this picture of them doesn’t correspond with the one he’s had to deal with his entire life. They are usually overbearing and nosy, conservative to a degree that is almost too much to deal with. They aren’t progressive and accepting. Because if they are now, Eddie’s entire panic about telling them was for naught. Wasted energy.

“You guys are.. you are okay with it?” Because he has to ask. He hates how his voice breaks a little, sighs when Buck’s hand finds his shoulder and squeezes. Even if Chris is sitting there with them, listening. Eddie has to know... His parents probably won’t start something with their grandson watching. But they haven’t demanded him to leave either. 

“It’s gonna take some getting used to it. But Adri has been talking to us. About things. How things are these days,” his dad says. And Eddie vows to profusely thank Adriana later, maybe even send her something. It’s good to have allies he realizes.

“Not that it wasn’t a little shock to see that,” his mom adds amusedly. “It was funny, though. Haven’t seen you jump like that since the time we caught you when you were fifteen.”

Buck laughs, can't suppress it this time. Chis joins in, giggling happily along. Eddie suspects his son doesn’t even really get what is so amusing but he grins down at him, at the sight of the two of them. He wouldn’t want to have it any other way.

**“Are you happy?”**

It’s a surprise that it's his dad asking. Usually it’s his mother. His dad keeps in the background only stepping in when he thinks it’s necessary.

“Yes,” he doesn’t have to think about. He is. No question. No doubt either. And he thinks it’s visible, even through a grainy video call. Because his parents don’t push for more, don’t try to dig deeper.

“Good. That’s good, mijo.”

“You deserve it. All of you, from what I have gathered through Christopher’s very frequent tales about his Buck. And we will get used to it.” His mom looks soft then. A look Eddie hasn’t seen in years, decades even. Not since Shannon handed a new-born Chris over and called her grandma. 

“Thanks, mom. Dad. I... We appreciate it.”

They talk for some more. His mom actually just wanted to ask if a book she’d picked out for Chris was okay and if she could send it. Simple request that in the end made Eddie’s life a little easier. They talk about some mundane things, too. About life in general and Christopher’s online classes. It’s one of the most civil longer conversations Eddie has had with them. All in all; it's not the drama Eddie expected it to be. His parents are surprisingly less nosy and refrain from asking about Buck’s and his relationship. But who knows what might come later, when the dust has settled. He's not thinking about it right now, though.

Right now, he's just damn glad and happy that he still has parents. That he hasn't been disowned or cursed out or called a failure. All his insecurities lie dormant now, pushed back by the rock that has fallen off his chest. Eddie knows it won't be easy. His parents are sort of set in their ways. But if they are willing to try, to learn, it could be okay. Good even.

Hours later, once Chris is tucked into bed, with the TV volume set on low and Buck having reclaimed his favorite position on Eddie’s chest, he realizes that he came out to his parents today. It’s like a little jolt going through him, making Buck mutter in protest before looking up.

“Mind all caught up now?”

Eddie laughs at that, because yes it is. Finally. And he is slowly coming down from the adrenaline high that has kept him company ever since being caught by his parents kissing his boyfriend.

“Guess so. I... expected worse. But I can definitely live with this outcome,” Eddie answers and lets his hand move up from where it was resting against the small of Buck’s back. The man is almost entirely sprawled out on top of him and Eddie loves it. Loves it like he does only a few things in his life.

“Yeah, I think it went okay. We are good. Besides being caught.”

“Well, it saved me from having to come up with the right words.” 

“There’s that. Speaking of words. Is it now that later when we talk about the not yet?” Buck’s smirk is devilish but so damn cute at the same time. Eddie knows exactly how and why he fell in love with his best friend.

“Buck. I promise, if I’ll propose, you’ll know.” 

“If?” It's mock outrage because Buck’s eyes are full of laughter. 

“Okay, when. Happy?”

“Very. Not yet?

“Not yet. But someday.” 

It’s a promise he can make. No remorse. No regrets. 

Buck steals a kiss then, soft and simple, before he settles back against Eddie, eyes on the documentary he has put on. It’s something about nature reclaiming spaces when humans are gone. Saturated rainbows and greens on the screen are reflected in the blues of Buck’s eyes. And it is all Eddie needs right now - this view, the way Buck watches in rapt fascination all curled up against him. A remainder that he is here. That he is Eddie's to hold. His little family, safe and sound in his home. Happy. With him. He wouldn’t change it for anything in the world.

**Author's Note:**

> So last day of this and I had fun. Thanks to the organizers for the prompts and the place to have this.
> 
> And yes, I caved. There isn't anything on there and I don't think I'll use for anything but these kind of posts, but [Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/bestillmyirishheart).
> 
> All mistakes are mine (it's basically all I own these days).  
> <3  
> Thanks, A.


End file.
